Qin Yun had rushed westward for more than a week, avoiding human settlement even as they became scarcer. He traversed through many mortal nations, isolated from each other by the verdant ocean surrounding them.

This was a land of survival of the fittest, where humans weren't kings, and only the most adaptable could reign. Unlike Jin City, which was under the protection of the city lord and the various cultivator clans, these settlements were at the mercy of nature and the creatures that inhabited these woods.

Qin Yun did encounter a few spirits on his way west, yet it was never anything he couldn't handle. For the most part, he ignored the ones who couldn't threaten him while avoiding the territory of those he couldn't stand against.

The qi is growing thinner. I haven't seen any strong spirits in quite some time...

Qin Yun stood at the peak of a tall tree, looking toward the horizon. To the north, a massive mountain range formed a large belt that seemed to blot out the sky as it pierced through the clouds. All the while, the area was covered by a blanket of snow all year round.

The Immortal Phoenix Sect should be located deep within those peaks. Still, I didn't think they were this close to the western edge. They shouldn't be too low within the sect rankings... I wonder if there's something special about that mountain range... Forget it... I just hope I won't have to make her wait too long.

To the south was a large lake—so large it may be deemed an ocean. Even from his vantage point, Qin Yun couldn't see to the far side as a thin mist obscured his sight. Somehow, he couldn't help but feel there was something unnatural about this mist. Whether it was in how it moved with the wind or simply a feeling he had, Qin Yun couldn't tell.

Ahead, to the west, Qin Yun saw the dense and lush verdant scenery he had trekked through for more than a week give way to a barren land. All vegetation slowly disappeared alongside spiritual qi until nothing remained but an unending desert as far as the eye could see.

I’m almost there... Once I enter the dead lands, there’s no turning back until I reach the world’s end. However, before that...

Not far from here, Qin Yun found what he had been searching for: a large rock over ten meters tall surrounded by countless other rocky formations devoid of verdure. This natural formation prevented any living being from approaching or discovering its existence, making it the perfect place for Qin Yun to finally become a cultivator in the strictest sense.

Ever since he had been struck with heavenly tribulation as he forged his black crystal sword, Qin Yun had felt the remnant lightning course through his body, refining it as he had done for all those years, making the whole process almost pointless. After all, what better method was there than to forge the flesh using the most potent force in the world?

Although living during this forging process was painful, Qin Yun had grown accustomed to it. In fact, he couldn't help but wish the process would be even faster. After all, if he had the means to do so, Qin Yun would have liked to have been done already, even if the pain would have become unbearable.

The flesh is reaching perfection; the only problem is qi-purity... Now that my innate qi is gone, there's no telling what effect this will have once I reach the qi refining realm. Maybe the qi will acclimate itself to the flesh like some sort of entanglement, or perhaps I'll have to restart the whole process... Even so, my goal won't change. I will never settle for mediocrity...

With his mind made up, Qin Yun approached the stone formation, feeling an instinctual disgust as he ventured further. Even knowing the reasons why wasn't enough to counter its effect entirely. He could only take a single step at a time, accustoming himself to its effects before delving deeper.

It took him almost a full day to reach the base of the boulder, where the repelling sensation was strongest. He could barely stand to stay in its presence, as the urge to flee was almost too overwhelming.

Qin Yun squatted down, digging his hand into the ground, only to find that it was mostly made of sand, created by wind erosion over countless millennia. The repulsive force was such that not even grass could grow here—there was no trace of organic matter.

It might be worth investigating this formation as it could prove helpful in the future...

Although Qin Yun was eager to start accumulating qi, his flesh had yet to reach its peak, if only by a small margin. He figured that he should be ready in less than three days, which gave him just enough time to prepare and satisfy his curiosity.

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For the next two days, Qin Yun spent all hours awake, examining the boulder before him. The wind had carved countless grooves into its surface, which seemed extremely eerie as this wasn't how the wind was supposed to operate. Still, Qin Yun couldn't bring himself to think these were made by living beings, as they felt much too natural as if this was the way they were meant to be: a dichotomy he couldn’t wrap his mind around.

The more he observed those grooves and the way qi flowed around them, the more Qin Yun realized that uncovering the secrets of this natural formation was a pointless endeavour—at least with his current cultivation level. Even if he possessed the knowledge, without the cultivation to match, the intricacies deep within were invisible to his eyes.

He could only engrave all these sights and sensations into his subconscious for the time being, hoping he could return in the future and glean something useful from it. Such was the hidden beauty and strength within nature, something cultivators always strove to replicate with barely any success.

As he felt his flesh reaching its apex, Qin Yun dug a small hole outside the rock formation, seeking to create a hidden refuge below it, where he could enter the qi refining realm without any disturbances. While the process was simple for most cultivators, his situation was uncharted territory even for him. He couldn't tell what might happen and could only plan for the worst.

This was one of the reasons he left Jin city when he did, as doing so within the city would have been much too dangerous. After all, spirits were much more predictable than humans.

Qin Yun sat deep underground in complete darkness, feeling the warmth of the earth all around him. As he expected, a qi vein flowed through this rock formation, powering it. He could extract the slightest bit of it through runes he inscribed into the nearby stone for his own consumption and advancement.

He waited—waited for the heavenly lightning perfusing his flesh to finally reach the peak... perfection.

His wait didn't last long, maybe an hour at most. But then... nothing. The pain he had endured for all these years as he used his innate qi in forging his body and an even greater pain as the heavenly lightning did the same had all but disappeared, leaving Qin Yun confused about the result. Still, he maintained his calm and waited.

Yet, nothing happened.

With a frown on his face, Qin Yun prodded the muscles on his leg as he sat in a lotus position. They seemed firm and springy, no different than they ever were. He could only frown further as he clenched his fist, yet he couldn't feel an increase in strength. It wasn't until he cut his own flesh open with one of the daggers his wife had once tried on him that he noticed the difference.

The blade shattered as it touched his skin, leaving behind but a nick as shards flew in all directions, some bouncing as they collided with his body, leaving close to no traces except for slight cuts onto his clothing.

While the blade was, at most, a high-grade common artifact, resisting its cutting power without using qi was a staggering achievement. It was almost as if his body itself had been forged into an artifact. Still, this realization gave birth to another thought.

If my body is now an artifact forged by the world's natural laws, does this mean it possesses a grade? If so, maybe this is not the end of its path. After all, artifacts are composed of three things that need to be balanced to be considered successful: vessel, power and meaning. If the vessel is my body, then the power is qi. Only by reaching the qi refining realm can I show its true might. As for the meaning...

Qin Yun thought that maybe mind cultivation was the answer, but somehow, it seemed too easy. Even as he infused his intent into his flesh, nothing seemed to change. His flesh remained just as sturdy, yet his mind couldn't bear the burden, leaving him with a massive headache and blood flowing from his orifices.

It seems the strength of my body did nothing to alleviate the recoil from using mind techniques. They were right when they warned me that humans weren't designed to wield such power. Only gods—as they called themselves—were worthy of doing so...

Qin Yun chuckled slightly, recalling events of ages long past, feeling how pointless their superiority complex had been. After all, they all died in the end.

Feeling stumped by the meaning part of artifact refining, Qin Yun put it aside, finally infusing qi into his being for the first time.

He took a deep breath and calmed his mind, cutting all distractions as he honed in on himself. He fell into a deep trance where all that existed was his own being and the universe that surrounded him—two entities, distinct yet intertwined, his own self and the sum of all things.

He breathed in, and the world flowed, bathing his parched meridians with the elixir of life—its origin. It flowed as if a fast torrent, breaking all barriers that wished to contain it as it crashed into his core, flooding it. Yet, unexpectedly, none seemed to have been retained. Somehow, an ocean of qi had flowed to his spiritual roots, yet none remained after its departure, almost as if it had been rejected for being of poor quality.

I didn’t expect this... Qin Yun thought as he frowned deeply. I thought I would at least be able to retain some of the more high-purity qi, however small it might be. Yet it seems none meets the criteria. Is my only option to use high-grade spiritual stones? If so, it's definitely not practical... what else could I do?

As Qin Yun was deep in thought, pondering how to circumvent his picky spiritual roots that had been used to high-purity qi, something happened overhead. Unbeknownst to him, dark thunderclouds gathered above, bathing the world in darkness, purely illuminated by the scarce lightning arcing upon their surface.

After a while, as their density grew, a face seemed to imprint itself within the clouds, its features female, yet barely defined, as if it could belong to any woman. Still, they were undoubtedly human in nature.

The visage in the sky looked down, lightning sparkling in its eyes as it gazed upon the location where Qin Yun was currently seated deep underground, utterly unaware of what was happening.

There was a glint in the woman's eyes as a faint smile graced her lips. However, its smile felt eerie; the scarce life in the surroundings felt the urge to leave as they gazed upward. Their instincts screamed at them to do so, and yet, Qin Yun felt none of it as if the woman in the sky meant for it to be so.

A moment later, the face in the sky vanished, and a giant hand appeared, pointing a single finger toward Qin Yun, lightning arching on its surface.

Once again, Heavenly Tribulation fell.